Improvement in speed-recordfng apparatus



Shoe- 8h EDWARD F. SHELTMAN.

Speed Recording Apparatus.

No. 11 8 ,1 6 O. Patented August 15, 1871.

"Witnesses. lnuenior.

7 yr Mum 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

EDWARD F. SHELTMAN.

Speed Recording Apparatus.

N0. 118,16 0. Patented August 15, 1871.

PATENT QFFIGE.

EDIVARD F. SHELTMAN, OF GIIRISTIANSBURG, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SPEED-RECORDlNG APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,160, dated August 15, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD QIIELTMAN, of Ghristiansburg, in the county of Montgomery and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful ln'iprovement in Machines for M easurin g,

tegistcring, and Indicating the Time, vDistance,

and Speed of Locomotives and other Carriages; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, rei erence being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a top view, a portion of the clock case having been removed in order to reveal the internal mechanism. Fig. 2 is longitudinal vertical section in line :20 0c of Fig. 1. Fig. .3 is a lon gitudin al vertical sectionii 1v line 1 g ot'Fi 1. Fig. 4 is a side view of the wheel. Fig. 5 is an axial section of the same. Fig. (i is a side view of one of the registering-markers. Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the registering apparatus. Fig. 8 is a view of the marker employed to register the for ward movements of the carriage, and Fi S) is a similar view of the marker employed to register the backward movements of the carriage.

Similar letters of reference i1 1. the drawin g rep resent the same parts of the machine.

The object of this invention is to provide for the use of railroad companies, the proprietors of livery stables, omnibus and stage lines, 85c, and other persons owningrunnin machinery, a cheap, simple, and practicable device which can be permanently attached to the cars, carriages, or buildin g containing the machinery, and securely kept under lock and key, and which, when applied to cars or carriages, will at all times accurately measure, record upon paper, and indicate to the eye the distance that they have traveled; the ve locity of their movement at every part of their progress; the duration of their movement, with the time of its beginning and end, the number, time, duratirm, and lo :ality of their stoppages, and the number, time, distance, and duration of their retrograde movements, and which, when applied to other running machinery, will indicate the time when its operation begins, the speed of its movement during every moment that it is in operation, its stoppages, with their time and duation, and its reverse movements, with. their time and duration, my purpose being to place within reach of said proprietors or companies an efi'ectua-l guard against faudulent conduct and misrepresentation of their subordinates, employes, or bailees in regard to the running of the trains, carriages, or other machinery.

In carrying this purpose into n'acticc I make use substantially oi the following devices, viz., first, a graduated strip or band placed upon rollers or reels, and adapted to receive impressions or marks from a marl-:er or markers, second, a clock-work to impart a continuous forward movement to the graduated band; third, another clock-work to regulate the movement of the graduated band exactly in accordance with. the time of day, tourth, a marker or markers to produce marks or impressions upon the band; and lilth, a train of connecting-gear extending from the markers to the runningshait or wheel, and so constructed and arranged as to operate the markers with a speed directly proportioned to the speed of the driving-wheel. These parts are combined to produce a machine which operates on the following 1 rinciples,viz.: The strip, graduated into hours, minutes, days, 85c, acts as a moving dial, and as it passes along the markers strike and make a mark or impression upon it once (more or less) at each revolution of the main wheel, thereby leaving a line of marks upon it whose ncarness to each other indicates the speed, and whose location at or near the graduating lines oi the dial indicate the time, duration, &c., of the movements ot the driving-wheel, and consequently ol' the cars, carriage, or machinery.

Having thus indicatal the general. principle and the most important devices of my machine, 1 will now proceed to describe the details of its construction.

in the drawing, A indicates the movable strip or dial, which, composed of paper or any other suitablematerial, and of any length that may be desired, is graduated into the hours, minutes, &c., of the day, and, it necessary, the days of the week, month, or year, and mounted upon reels a a. A constant forward movement is imparted to the reel (1" by means of a clockwork, 13, which may be of any ordinary construction. The moving strip A may be adjusted laterally by means of a guide, t and the rate of its movement is controlled by two rollcrs, c 0, between which it passes, the lower roller being kept in constant and uniform rotation vtor and by means of a chronometer or accurate timepiece, l, with the movements of which it is connected in any suitable manner, while the upper one, which is detachablc, is pressed down upon the paper by means of an adjustable spring-brake, r, as shown in Fig.2. he result of this arrangement is, that that portion ot' the paper strip which is graduated for one hour-say for the hour between nine and ten oclock of Monday morning, June as, 1S7j1.will occupy just one hour by the clock in passing any given point, as, for OXElll'lIllO,llllU point where the markers are situated; and it the strokes of the markers are in proportion to the velocity of the car or other machinery, then the number of strokes upon the paper within that hour will indicate the speed, and the relative position,

&c., of the strokes will indicate the variations of speed during the whole hour, the exact times when such *ariations occur, and how long they continue. The markers may be constructed in any suitable manner; but, preferably, 1. pass the paper under a fiat plate, (I, of metal, and cause a slmrp-pointed hammer or hammers, l) 1), to strike against and make a mark or impression upon it. I prefer to employ two imlrking-hanr mers, one, D, actuated by the forward movement of the car-wheels or other mzu'ihinery, and the other, D, actuated by the back 'ard movement of the same, each one being at rest so long as the other is in operation. This is easily accmnplished by usin two wheels, \V W, with cams or springs c r on their periphery, for the purpose 0 f actuating the hammers. The two wheels are hill 1 gloosel y on a single shaft, T, which, by a t am of gear or cords and pulleys, p p &c., is driven forward or backward, its motion, both in direction and speed, always correspondin with that of the car-wheels. ll hen driven forward it engages with and com municates motion to one of the wheels \V by means of a ratchet and spring-pawl or frictionclutch, and when driven backward it imparts motion to the other wheel NY by similar means. A spring-brake bearing against the two wheels W \V maybe employed to steady their movements and prevent them from running except when in gear with the driving apparatus. The character of the train of gear-wheels or cords and pulleys p, p p do, that extends from the shalt T to the cal-axle or driving-shait of the machinery may be almost infinitely varied. 1 do not wish to limit myself to any particular construction or arrangement thereof. As shown in Fig. 3, a pulley, p, on the car-axle communicates motion to a shaft,p through several intermediate belts and pulleys, and the pulley p 2 s shown in Fig. 2, imparts motion to the shaft T, its belt running over a pulley, 1, between the wheels \V \V, as represented in Figs. 4c and 5. The hammer D punctures the paper once and the hammer .l) twice at each stroke, the character of the marks upon the paper thus showing to the eye at a glace whether at any given time the car was run ning forward or back and, and precisely when the movement was changed from one direction to the other and how long it lasted. Any kinds of mark or marks may, however, be substituted for the single and double points herein shown without departing from the spirit of my invention. The dialplate or face of the chronometer inay project oi" appear at 0 on the front side of the box E in which the apparatus is contained, thus serving as a time-piece for the engineer, and enabling all the stations on the route to have their time-pieces adjusted exactly alike. The shape or construction of the box. I l is not material; nor is its situation upon the car, although the cab is perhaps the most convenient place for it. The reel (1. may be provided with a crank, 1 by which the paper can be drawn back and adjusted so as to start at the right point to coincide with the clocktime. \Vhenthuu adjusting the paper, the brake F should be taken off, so that the irregular movenlent ot' the paper will not derange the clock-work. \Vhen any one wishes to look at the paper that has been rolled upon the reel (1 to z'lscertain therccord imprinted upon it by the previous operation of the machinery, all he has to do is to loosen the brake F, and then, taking hold of the strip between the brake and the reel (i, draw it backward from the reel c. It will rradily unreel, winding up the clock-work B as it does so; and when the condition of the paper has been inspected it will roll itself up on the reel (1 again, the clock-work unwinding just as much as it wound up in pulling the paper out to inspect it and no more; all the parts thus returning auto]natically to their proper position. The paper may be provided with lon gitudinal spaces alongside of each other, one for one trip one day, or one week; the next for another, and so on. In the drawing the space marked 1, Fig. 1, is for the 23d of June; 2, for the 21th; 3, for the 25th, and so lorth. W hen the space 1 has been nnukcd from end to end, as it will be at the end of the day, if u'operly adjusted, it will not be necessary to take ot't the paper or apply a key to the clock-work 13 for the purpose of windingit again, but the whole thing will be done in the simplest and most convenient manner by loosening the brake F and winding the crank backward. That niovemcnt will draw the paper back to the position from which it started at the beginning of the day, and in drawing it back will necessarily wind up the clock work 13 without applying a key. \Vhcn the pa per has thus been returned to its properposition the brake put on again, and it can only run wind by the operation of the two rollers, c c, and the clock-work G. A slight movement of the guide G causes the second space 2 of the paper to pass next under the pointed nnirkers. The series of dots in space l, therefore, re n'csents the record of the first day, the first trip, dc; the series in space 2 the second day or trip, In. this way a single sheet may be made to contain the record of a week or a month, and need not be removed for that length of time. \Vhen filled up and removed it is to be preserved by the railroad officers or other interested parties as a permanent and perfect record of the doings of that engine, carriage, or other machine during the whole of that time. It will be noted that the clock 0 may be made to run eight days or more, and that there will be no practicable difficulty whatever on railroads in haying the apparatus keep a record for a week at a time without ever being wound up or looked at during that interval. A train could be sent from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again and made to record its whole history during its absence without the necessity of the box being opened or touched while away. The clock-work O mayhave the mainspring doubled or tripled, if necessary, to ii i crease its power, and to this end its shaft may be prolonged into or through the box IE, and the addi tional springs applied anywhere along the shaft. The spring-brake F may be made in any suitable manner, provided that it can be adjusted to apply a uniform pressure with any suitable degree of force to the paper or strip A, where it comes in contact with the roller 0, so as to connect the paper or strip to the roller or disconnect it there from at will, and so as to adjust the pressure to the condition and running of the other mechanism. The roller 0 may be dispensed with altogether, if preferred. The apparatus may be used upon steam-boats as well as upon cars, carriages, machines, 85c.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A record-paper or strip, A, mounted upon reels a a, in combination with clock-work 13 to move it continuously forward, clock-work G to regulate its movement to correspond with the time of day, and a marker or markers to indicate upon it the speed, movements, or stoppages of the car or other vehicle or machine, substantially as described.

2. A record-paper or strip, A, in combination with actuating mechanism B, regulating chronometer mechanism 0, and a shitting-guide, Gr, for adjusting the paper laterally, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination. of a marker, D, to indica te by a peculiar mark the forward movement of the car or machine with another marker, D, to indicate by a different mark the backward movement ofthe car or machine, when connected by any suitable apparatus, W W, 15 &c., with the axle-wheels, or other runninggear of the vehicle or machine, so as to operate substantially as herein set forth.

at. The pulleys and belts 1), 19 12 &c., which connect the car-axle and the shai't T, as herein set forth, in combinationwith said shaft T, and with the pulley t, the wheels \V \V, the ratchet and pawls or frictioaclutch, the spring or cams t t, and the markers 1) l), substantially as herein described.

EDNARD F. SIIELTMAN.

\Vitnesses:

C. F. BROWN, A. 0. RAwL'iNo-s. 

